The Institute of Public Affairs was founded by rich men with rich men’s interests at its core, albeit with obligatory nods to the national interest.

Before entering politics, Scott Morrison was employed to develop policy for the Property Council of Australia, which is now leading the charge against negative-gearing reform.
AAP/Mick TsikasMarch 10, 2016

As we approach the first anniversary of the Abbott government coming to office, The Conversation is examining how the Coalition has fared in remaking Australia and keeping its election promises. Labor…

Is the ABC biased against fossil fuels? The IPA thinks so, but it’s not really the most constructive question to ask.
AAP Image/Tracey NearmyAugust 20, 2014

It’s tempting to view The Australian’s latest broadside at the ABC as just another salvo fired between our nation’s two biggest media organisations. But the coverage, based on an Institute of Public Affairs…

Proper “process” might sound like bureaucratic jargon but a prime minister ignores it at his or her peril. Applied to cabinet, it includes making sure ministers have all the facts. Importantly, it requires…

Treasurer Joe Hockey wants to ‘end of the age of entitlement’, but which think-tanks around the world have played a part in developing that idea?
AAP/Alan PorrittMay 29, 2014

We propose things which people regard as being on the edge of lunacy. The next thing you know they’re on the edge of policy. – Madsen Pirie, President of the Adam Smith Institute, 1987 In a speech in London…

Attorney-general George Brandis has put his imprimatur on the Human Rights Commission with the appointment of the IPA’s Tim Wilson as Human Rights Commissioner.
AAP/Daniel MunozDecember 17, 2013

There is something both utterly predictable and wonderfully larrikin about federal attorney-general George Brandis’ appointment of the Institute for Public Affairs’ (IPA) self-described “classic liberal…

Will vouchers to access legal aid services be the fix the Australian legal system needs?
AAP/Lee BesfordOctober 23, 2013

Most Australians with legal problems are unlikely to be able to access the help they need. Unless you’re wealthy and can pay for a private lawyer, or extremely poor and disadvantaged and able to access…

Will free-marketeers like the IPA be disappointed by an Abbott government?
AAP/Lukas CochApril 22, 2013

In August 2012 the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), which bills itself as “Australia’s leading free market think tank,” urged opposition leader Tony Abbott to “be like Gough” in the IPA Review, proposing…

Rinehart will experience push-back from Fairfax staff if she tries to change the paper’s editorial direction.
AAP/Julian SmithJune 20, 2012

It is elementary that most business investors seek to make money. But Gina Rinehart’s investment in Fairfax is not aimed at a financial return. There are a hundred other, healthier companies where this…

Valiant sceptics have taken on the evil dragon of climate change conspiracy.
magia e/FlickrFebruary 16, 2012

The trouble with words is that you never know whose mouths they’ve been in. – Dennis Potter Readers following the Australian news media’s coverage of climate change will probably have detected the conspiracy…